Four Star Playhouse
Synopsis
Four Star Playhouse is an American television anthology series that ran from 1952 to 1956, sponsored in its first bi-weekly season by The Singer Company; Bristol-Myers became an alternate sponsor when it became a weekly series in the fall of 1953. The original premise was that Charles Boyer, Ida Lupino, David Niven, and Dick Powell would take turns starring in episodes. However, several other performers took the lead from time to time, including Ronald Colman and Joan Fontaine.
Blake Edwards was among the writers and directors who contributed to the series. Edwards created the recurring character of illegal gambling house operator Willie Dante for Dick Powell to play on this series. The character was later revamped and spun off in his own series starring Howard Duff, then-husband of Lupino.
The pilot for Meet McGraw, starring Frank Lovejoy, aired here, as did another episode in which Lovejoy recreated his role of Chicago newspaper reporter Randy Stone, from the radio drama Nightbeat.
Season 2 Episodes
EP 1
Steve Carlyle is an actor who can't find work because his famous nearly identical cousin Roger takes measures to keep him from getting any …
EP 2
Another of the great Willie Dante stories. Stan, the son of the DA, is a secret gambler. He loses big in Willie's joint and pays by check. …
EP 3
The Commander, a mildly brain injured war hero, lives with his greedy family. All he wants is his own house, while all they want is to pres…
EP 4
A journalist's wife who, while alone on a sea voyage, becomes the center of male attention.
EP 5
A suave attorney is hired to defend a man on trial for robbery and murder. The attorney finds the real culprit and solves the mystery in t…
EP 6
Weary Dr. Gentry gets no rest from his irritating patients. The pediatrician deals with ill-mannered kids and parents who can't make a move…
EP 7
A newspaper reporter is intrigued as to why a woman hired a dive team to retrieve her purse from the Chicago River.
EP 8
A sickly aging shipping magnate falls in love with a blind mother.
EP 9
Vic breaks the bank at Willie's gambling hall, and Willie unknowingly pays him off with counterfeit money. When Vic threatens him, Willie c…
EP 10
Ted Parker enlists his friend Addy, a famous art expert, into an elaborate ruse to portray his budding love interest as a break-out artist,…
EP 11
A beautiful, intelligent, and politically savvy young woman takes up residency in the city park to protest the Mayor's decision to end rent…
EP 12
A doctor encounters suspicion and a dark secret when he rents a house in Cuba.
EP 13
Predictable Andy Bush is taking a train to his annual three week vacation without his wife. A young woman in trouble approaches him and ask…
EP 14
Businessman Carl Baxter is a good boss for 364 days a year, but his memories of his estrangement with his son causes his mood to change at …
EP 15
A woman visits an isolated house expecting to meet with the realtor. Instead, she encounters a murderer who's escaped from a mental hospita…
EP 16
A test pilot learns that it's possible that his sick daughter could have polio, just before he tests a new military plane.
EP 17
An honest professional casino owner runs into bad luck with impending insolvency or sale of his property. He also runs into his ""long-lost…
EP 18
Joan Robinson works as a governess for a wealthy family. She attends a party thrown by her employer and, although she is an attractive youn…
EP 19
A comedy of errors about an insurance executive’s wife. At a party, the impulse suddenly comes over her and she proceeds to steal the jewel…
EP 20
A blind man has a chance for surgery to restore his sight, but it may last for just a few minutes.
EP 21
A police detective returns home to his family one morning only to have his meal interrupted by a constant stream of people: the milkman, hi…
EP 22
An engaged couple and the woman's former suitor take shelter in an abandoned house, too late to notice an unexploded bomb. Their retreat is…
EP 23
McGraw, a private eye, is hired by Lila Lamont to protect her from her threatening husband Louis.
EP 24
A detective (Dick Powell) takes a trip to a cabin in the woods to get away from it all. A man, his wife, and his two kids entertain him. Wh…
EP 25
The chief teller of a bank openly embezzles a large sum of money to extort a pay raise from the bank's board of directors.
EP 26
An architect's wife endangers his career when she is involved in a car accident. While on a ride to a roadhouse, she accidentally spills b…
EP 27
A stranger tussles with John over a library book and is struck and killed by a passing car. John discovers a message in the book and follow…
EP 28
Wise-guy newspaperman Fred Jordan writes a column making fun of "normal" men who panic during a fire. Soon afterward he gets a letter from …
EP 29
A costume ball during the New Orleans Mardi Gras turns sour when the family hosting the festivities discovers that their cousin has esc…
EP 30
An artist turns detective to find out who murdered his favorite model and left the body in his studio.
EP 31
A famous plastic surgeon is recruited to severely disfigure the face of a beautiful countess, in order to relate to her husband, who was bu…
